Toshiba to drop its auditor - Nikkei

(Reuters) - Toshiba Corp <6502.T> has decided to drop its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata, which declined to approve the company's full-year financial statement, the Nikkei financial daily reported. The Japanese tech company is in the middle of a conflict with PwC Aarata over recent results and governance issues at Westinghouse Electric, its American nuclear subsidiary. Massive cost overruns at four nuclear reactors being constructed by Westinghouse in the Southeastern United States have forced Toshiba to estimate a $9 billion (£7 billion) annual net loss and take drastic measures. PwC Aarata's refusal to sign-off on Toshiba's results has given the Tokyo Stock Exchange potential grounds for delisting the company. The company is in talks with second-tier auditing firms with which it has no potential conflicts of interest, the Japanese newspaper reported. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)